The Wall Street Journal looks at the trouble Obamacare will cause to McDonald's way of offering health insurance to their employees.While many restaurants don't offer health coverage, McDonald's provides mini-med plans for workers at 10,500 U.S. locations, most of them franchised. A single worker can pay $14 a week for a plan that caps annual benefits at $2,000, or about $32 a week to get coverage up to $10,000 a year.Last week, a senior McDonald's official informed the Department of Health and Human Services that the restaurant chain's insurer won't meet a 2011 requirement to spend at least 80% to 85% of its premium revenue on medical care. McDonald's and trade groups say the percentage, called a medical loss ratio, is unrealistic for mini-med plans because of high administrative costs owing to frequent worker turnover, combined with relatively low spending on claims.
Will President Obama eat crow? Will he want fries with that?
h/t NRO's Corner

Through three weeks of the NFL season, the New England Patriots have scored the most points - 90.
Twice, they have scored 38 points - best in week one along with the Titans, and best in week three along with the Steelers.

Thus, the Patriots cheerleaders have been featured in TMQ on ESPN.com and in this post.

NRO's Robert Costa describes the scene as the House adjourned early Thursday.
Nancy Pelosi saying goodbye to colleagues who are about to be slaughtered in the mid-term elections - including Virginia's own Tom Perriello.Pelosi smiled her usual grin — immobile and broad — and wished fellow Democrats the best. Some stopped to chat, but many just rushed past, uninterested in small talk. Rep. Tom Perriello, a vulnerable freshman Democrat from Virginia, was one who skipped by, but Pelosi called him back, inviting him to join her circle of allies by the elevator. Their talk was short: He tried to sound upbeat about his chances. Pelosi, of course, smiled.
And they went off into the storm.
UPDATE: Linked by Smitty. Thanks.

Blue Virginia has a post up highlighting the "pro-business" possibilities of a Republican win in November.
They make bold the phrase - Ideology over governance.
Hasn't that been what's going on since Jan. 20, 2009?

DaTech Guy catches a sign for a Democratic Congressional candidate in the wrong place - in front of a closed business.
Under Democrats, there are just so many closed businesses to choose from when deciding where to put your campaign signs.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Democrats think their get-out-the-vote technology will ease the coming pain on election day.On election day itself, the DNC can spend time and money on the "knock and drag" -- it will have a pretty good idea, down to the individual voter, of who it needs to turn out in order to be competitive in House districts. Republicans have access to the same technology, but there are doubts within the party about whether the RNC has the metabolism and structures to build votes like the Democrats. Republicans in places like Ohio are just this cycle beginning to focus hard on the early vote. Democrats have been doing this for several cycles.

If the reports of voter enthusiasm are accurate, dragging voters to the poll may be the Democrats' only hope. Drag and keep them there while the hoards of Republicans cast their vote - willingly.

Gee, I wonder what Fox News will be covering tonight?
And tomorrow?
And the final 35 days of the campaign?
Let's let Ace of Spades critique the President's remarks.Can you imagine if George W. Bush spent 1/10 the time whining like a little girl about the press that Obama does? Obama is the most thin skinned, lying, anti-prosperity, anti-American exceptionalism President in memory and he's lecturing people about what is destructive to America? The irony, it burns!

Why are President Obama and his team sinking? Could it be liberal bloggers?Virtually all the liberal bloggers who have taken a critical stance toward the administration have one thing in common: they place principle above party. Their complaints are exactly the same complaints they lodged against the Bush administration. Contrary to the straw man posed by Obama supporters, they aren’t complaining about pie in the sky wishes but about tangible acts and omissions, from Gitmo to Afghanistan to the environment to gay rights to secrecy and executive power.The essence of their critique is that the White House lacks a moral compass. The instances where Obama displays a flash of moral authority – the mosque speech comes to mind – these bloggers cheer him with the same fervor as his most ardent fans.
Nice job. Keep up the good work.
h/t the Other McCain

Jimmie at Sundries Shack gets noticed on NRO's daily email blast from the Campaign Spot.Dark days are coming for the progressive left. Right now, they’re jumping around the first three stages of grief like a waterbug in a hot skillet, but soon they’re going to land on Stage Four and, when they do, there won’t be enough ice cream and cheap whiskey to go around. I can’t wait.
And pass the popcorn.

You often hear the left trumpeting the "Tea Party" as just being a facade behind rich Republicans, who are the real power behind the operation.
No matter how many citizens are interviewed at the gatherings, that remains their thought.
Why? Because that's how they do it. So they expect Republicans to do the same.
They pay people to protest, so the other side must be paying people and helping them get to D.C.
Just because you love astroturf doesn't mean the other side does too.

Wyblog has a tale of woe, with a happy ending.
And, I think, a lesson for the President and Democrats.
It's was street party time in front of his house. As it was winding down, he went down to the basement. And found a mess.
A broken sewer pipe had dumped waste water into the basement. Not the way to spend a Saturday night.
Did Wyblog stop and blame eight years of George W. Bush's policies for the problem? No. Did he say he was working on the problem, but obstruction from the obstruction made the situation seem worse? No.
He went about getting help to fix the problem.
He called the plumber. Got good advice from his wife. Help from the neighbors. And help from friends. Knowledgable friends in the field of plumbing, not people who have read books on plumbing. Or watched D.I.Y. network on the weekend.
He lives in a old house, where the pipe sagged and couldn't take the pressure of higher than normal use. But blaming old pipes and the failure of former owners to replace them wouldn't clean his house in time for the Jets' game Sunday night.
President Obama, stop complaining about the crap around your feet and start working. Don't keep dumping more problems in the basement.
Don't be like the Roto-Rooter guy, looking for a solution that favors your way of doing business. It may simply be some old pipe that needs replacement, not a total overhaul of everything.
Besides, Wyblog couldn't afford their extra service. He's got to pay your taxes.
The good news of the story? The Jets won.

A study from the University of Virginia looks at the current housing market and sees two reasons for continued weakness - changes in demographics and changes in where people want to live.
For one problem, there's a government solution - government working with buyers and developers to make more desirable existing housing in areas where the jobs are.
For the second problem, there's no short-term solution. If there's few buyers than sellers, then prices stay stable or drop. Not the expected rise many homebuyers thought they'd get when they signed the 30-year mortgage.
For happy sellers, you need buyers. We can produce them, but it takes about 30 years for the crop of babies to become homebuyers.
If you want to have a more comfortable retirement, have a child.

The third week of the NFL is down to its final game. And the number of undefeated teams has dwindled.
The Tuesday Morning Quarterback column annually notes the last possible meeting between undefeated teams - and it's this Monday night as the 2-0 Packers play the 2-0 Bears.
That's pretty early.
In the AFC, Kansas City and Pittsburgh are 3-0. They do not meet in the regular season, and neither plays the NFC North. The winner of the Bears-Packers game Monday will be the last NFC team without a loss.
Enjoy the game, since it's extremely doubtful we'll see a pair of 18-0 teams in the Super Bowl.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Ace of Spades has an excellent dissection of a Miami Herald poll story. The headline talks about Democratic Kendrick Meek surging in the latest poll. The reality is he's getting close to independent Charlie Crist.
Both are being beaten like a drum by Marco Rubio.The MFM are so eager to designate Meek the candidate with momentum, they're helping out Rubio. None of which would be an issue, if the author hadn't attempted the momentum spin "Meek advances uphill against Rubio, Crist; the tide is turning!" While technically true, so is this: "Meek still trails Rubio by 17 points; he's going to lose."

Each week, three games are broadcast over the air on CBS and FOX. In Fishersville, we usually get plenty of Ravens and Redskins for obvious reasons.
But the first three weeks, the schedule has given us a wide variety of other teams in the over-the-air slots. Along with the local teams, only Cincinnati has been on twice in our market. We've seen 15 of the 32 teams so far (NBC and ESPN games don't count since they are nationally broadcast.)
The guys at the506.com love keeping track of which markets see the most teams and which teams are seen over-the-air in every market in the country. Fishersville has had a very good start to the NFL season.

In our church sermon Sunday, the pastor mentioned the story of John Stephen Ahkwari, who ran the Olympic marathon in 1968. He fell during the race, injuring his knee, and despite the pain completed the race.
The other competitors were long gone and the crowd dwindled, but he kept running.
It's a reminder to focus on our goals and see them through - no matter what.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Augusta County supervisors approved plans this week to expand Wilson Elementary, where my son attends.
He and all fourth graders have their classes in trailers. My oldest was in a trailer there as a fifth grader.
Headed to soccer Saturday, I asked the youngest about the trailer.
He likes several things about it - the microwave and refrigerator they have in the trailer. When they have special time, the teacher pops popcorn "and it's still hot" instead of having to go to the teacher's lounge. And they get to set the temperature you want.
Maybe instead of spending $15 million, the county should buy more microwaves for trailers.
Somehow, I think his thoughts on the trailer will change when it rains or gets really cold in the winter.

Pat in Shreveport will be busy this weekend with birthday activities, but left behind a post to check out.
Tonight, she'll watch LSU play West Virginia. I saw fans of both teams at soccer this morning, and both thought it was going to be a tough game for them.
I say "Let's go, Mountaineers." Or else, a bad game means an early bedtime.
UPDATE: Friday was the birthday of Professor Douglas over at American Power blog. He's the same age as President Obama. But I think, of the 1961 births, he got more wisdom.

I liked Don Surber's turn of phrase in describing Rep. Nick Joe Rahall's re-election strategy.First, Rahall is counting on UMW support for his coal cred. Over the 29 years I have lived in this state, the United Mine Workers has diminished in strength politically. Its supporters are dying out. Rahall does not seem to get the message. He’s waiting for a telegram in a Twitter age.
It will be interesting to see what happens across the border, due west of Fishersville.

The Other McCain profiles Isaac Hayes, Republican candidate for the House seat now held by Jesse Jackson Jr.Isaac Hayes wasn't always happy to share the same name as a singer famed for "Shaft" and other 1970s soul classics."All of my life, I've had to deal with that," say Hayes. "I didn't appreciate it as a kid, but now, I think my Mom and Dad were geniuses.… It helps break the ice."Breaking the ice is important for Hayes in his campaign in the 2nd District of Illinois, where he is perhaps the GOP's longest of long-shot candidates for Congress this year. Encompassing the southside suburbs of Chicago near the border with Indiana, the district's electorate is so heavily Democratic that two years ago, 90 percent voted for President Obama. The 2nd District hasn't elected a Republican to Congress in 60 years.

How has Danica Patrick's season been in the Nationwide Series? Been a long time since she's raced there.
After appearing in just six of the first 27 races, Patrick heads to Dover Saturday for her fall tour on the Nationwide Series. She should appear in seven more races to close out the season, as the IRL has only one more race to run in 2010.
The flag drops on ESPN2 Saturday at 3 p.m.Race two of the NASCAR Chase for the Cup will be at the Monster Mile Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN. Jimmie Johnson dropped four spots after struggling, but somehow, I bet he'll be back near the top. Can't say the same about Clint Bowyer.
The Red Sox and Yankees aren't battling for the AL East championship, but they do meet twice this weekend on national TV - Saturday on FOX and Sunday night on ESPN. The Reds take on the Padres also on FOX, while the Giants and Rockies battle Sunday afternoon on TBS.
The Nationals continue their final homestand with three games against the Braves on MASN. The Orioles are in Toronto to face the Blue Jays on MASN2.
The Ravens open their home season against the closest thing the NFL has to bye - the Cleveland Browns. CBS will show that at 1 p.m. in the Fishersville area, followed by the Colts' visit to Denver. The Redskins host the Rams in the late afternoon slot on FOX.
The Jets visit Miami for NBC's Sunday night game, while ESPN has the Packers heading to Chicago on Monday night.CBS has the top college football matchup of the weekend, with top-ranked Alabama playing Arkansas at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Notre Dame takes on Stanford in the time slot on NBC, while ABC/ESPN2 offers Wake Forest-Florida State, Ohio State against Eastern Michigan and UCLA facing Texas.
In primetime, ABC will feature Oregon State against Boise State on the blue turf in the Broncos' final big non-conference game.
Virginia Tech's visit to Boston College gets to be the ACC game of the week, starting at noon.ESPN begins the weekend Friday when TCU meets SMU at 8 p.m. On Saturday at noon it's N.C. State facing Georgia Tech, then in primetime, it's a top-20 battle between South Carolina and Auburn.
On ESPN2, the day starts at noon with Bowling Green meeting Michigan. Oklahoma goes to Cincinnati at 6 p.m., followed by the big battle between West Virginia and LSU at Death Valley.Versus presents the Atlanta Football Classic Saturday at 3:30 p.m., with Tennessee State meeting Florida A&M.Comcast has football early - Central Florida at Kansas State at 12:30 p.m. - and late from the Pac-10 as Oregon goes to Arizona State at 10:30 p.m.MASN has college football in prime time Saturday, with Western Kentucky visiting South Florida.
For your younger football action, ESPN2 shows high school football from South Carolina Friday at 7 p.m.
The main part of the PGA tournament schedule closes this weekend with the Tour Championship. NBC provides coverage Saturday starting at noon and Sunday from 1:30 to 6 p.m.
D.C. United takes to the pitch Saturday night on Comcast, hosting Houston at 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 has its MLS game Friday night, as the Red Bulls visit Los Angeles at 11 p.m.

First, Troglopundit comments on my joining the Axis of Fedora.
Then, Grandpa John finds some unauthorized users.
The top three do not endorse the next three.
The guy at the bottom, well, he's on his own.

Lots of posts will be written and TV time filled with Thursday's release of the Republican agenda document.
Dan Riehl weighs in here.It is, in essence, the standard we've been issued to get behind and march on toward November, when America faces one of, if not the, most important election of our times. If there's some other side worthy of fighting on, I haven't seen it. And I'm not the least bit interested in entertaining it, even if I did. So, I'm going to defend this pledge against the Democrats and an often complicit media and any one else if I have to. Because I know what side I'm on and how desperately America needs our side to prevail.

Checking Sitemeter this week, I noticed a spike in hits to a Rule 5 post from last September. Why?
The hits came from Classic Liberal. Who compiled a Rule 5 roundup with the headline "End the Fed."
Somebody likes those three short words. And lots of people followed the link.
Even to me.

SWACgirl notes Augusta County's plan to renovate my boys' elementary school - after they've moved on. Oh well.
It's time for that school to get a facelift. Looks like it will cost a lot, but can the county get some of that money back?
Expanding Wilson would allow the county to close Ladd, located across the street from Wal-Mart and just off busy I-64. How much would a big plot of land in the busy traffic district go for? Probably not $15 million, but a big chunk of change.
It also gives options to Waynesboro and Augusta County for better traffic flow to newer retail developments east of Rosser Avenue. Build a road through the Ladd property and sell off some.
It will be interesting to see what develops.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Smitty from the Other McCain went to West Virginia Saturday for an interview.
His car decided he should stay there a few extra days.
After a visit to the repair shop, Smitty headed home to Nova via Fishersville. And let me put on the mighty fedora.

It was an honor, meeting Smitty and getting to put on the fedora.
UPDATE: Phil and SWACgirl note the visitor to our area.

Public Policy Polling has John Raese ahead in the race for West Virginia Senate.
My father-in-law is voting for him.
Sen. Byrd and the other deceased Democrats will have to vote more this year than usual.

The New York Times reports on three New Hampshire bad guys - who monitored Facebook and robbed houses of people who said they were gone.According to New Hampshire’s WMUR Channel 9 News, three local men, Mario Rojas, Leonardo Barroso and Victor Rodriguez, have burglarized more than 18 homes in the Nashua area of New Hampshire simply by checking status updates on Facebook and then pillaging the houses of victims who announced on the social network that they were not home.

Remember that next time you update. Especially if you have lots of cool stuff at your house.

Monday, September 20, 2010

How bad could November be for Democrats? Imagine this from Ace of Spades.Pretty soon, ace, you'll be full fledged "yeah, this is going to be a tsunami so big that we could run a half gallon of soured milk against [insert preferred Dem candidate] and win handily."

Six weeks to the election. Wake up to the new realities from the Other McCain....2010 is not any other year. It’s a year when the extremist Pelosi/Reid/Obama agenda has wrecked the economy in an attempt to radically alter the American system of government.This is a year when all bets are off, when there are no “safe” incumbents, and when scrappy underdog “outsider” candidates could win stunning upsets.
Invest in dry cleaners and laundramats. Democrats are going to be sweating through all of their suits before this one is over.

Michael Barone gives the Democrats' internal war some publicity.
He looks at elections in New York, Maryland and Washington, D.C., wherethere was a split between the public employee unions that do so much to finance Democratic campaigns and the gentry liberals who provide Democratic votes in places like Manhattan, the Montgomery County suburbs of Maryland, and Northwest Washington, D.C. And in each case the public employee unions won.

Get ahead of the curve. Democratic fighting will be the big topic after November 2.

Christine O'Donnell has a good comeback to the witchcraft accusation.“How many of you didn’t hang out with questionable folks in high school?” she asked fellow Republicans at a GOP picnic in southern Delaware on Sunday.“There’s been no witchcraft since. If there was, Karl Rove would be a supporter now,” O’Donnell jokingly assured the crowd.
h/t NRO's Corner.

I tried reading this post at Blue Virginia.
I can't follow.
The Tea Party is not the people, but the typical bosses who run everything.So we have nut case, low-information folks who hate government, seeking to run that government, people who believe that dinosaurs roamed Eden with Adam and Eve, that working human brains have been installed in mice, that the Earth was created in six days about 6,000 years ago, that the sooner we have Armageddon the sooner Christ will return to rule the world, that evolution is a lie, that climate change is a conspiracy, and so on endlessly. Our corporate and Wall Street oligarchs have every intention of cramming these fatuous candidates down our throats; they will seek to buy the election, installing in power these reality show candidates .

The dinosaurs are those who think the Tea Party can be led to follow the same old, same old. It's a high-information age, and diluting the impressive knowledge of Tea Party members will lead you to Armageddon. Both Democratic and Republican establishment.

My former newspaper, the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, decided to do a story on what might happen nine months after blizzards - an avalanche of babies.
Are there more babies? Can't tell from the stories. All anecdotal stories about - seems like more babies.
How about checking with OBs to see if they are seeing more women due in the next two months? Before babies arrive at the hospital, their moms usually see the doctor who will deliver their baby.
Might have made a better story.

Love Sarah Palin? You betcha.
What would blogs talk about without her?
I picked up several interesting posts about her over the weekend.
ChicagoBoyz has a theme looking at Palin hatred that expanded into a post about Palin as the anti-Christ to the left - that Palin is itching to bring on the end of the world.I think this weird claim some the best evidence for my hypothesis that the over-the-top Palin hated results from the status-anxiety of leftwing intellectuals. I think they first experience an intense anger and hatred caused by their status-anxiety. Then they have to rationalize those intense emotions so that they can justify the emotions to themselves and others. They have little understanding of evangelical Christianity but they have a vague idea that Christianity has an apocalypse so they say to themselves, “That’s it! I feel so strongly about Palin because she plans to bring on a nuclear war!”
I didn't know Sarah Palin had that much power. At least as much as some leftists think she has.
Meanwhile, DocZero has a good "attack Palin? Bring it on" post that Instapundit picked up.Obama would be making a deadly mistake by calling out Sarah Palin for a political cage match. Let me put this bluntly: virtually no one in America gives a damn what Barack Obama says about anything at this point. What could be more predictable, and less interesting, than Obama’s opinion on any given subject? Who wants to contemplate the economic wisdom of a guy who looted the Treasury for a trillion dollars, with less benefit than we could have achieved by stuffing hundred dollar bills into random cereal boxes?
Let's hear more about the thrilla from Wasilla.
More to write about. More to drive the left crazy.

My oldest earned his first money today - working as a referee for the local soccer league.
Welcome to the working world. President Obama and the Democrats look forward to getting your tax dollars in the future.

Being the father of two tween boys, I get to watch youtube videos of "Fred" and "The Annoying Orange" more than I care to say.If you really want to know about "Fred," he's got a movie on Nick Saturday night.Watching these videos, it seems Democrats get their attitudes from them. Loud, annoying and childish like Fred, and just plain annoying like the orange.The tween demographic doesn't vote in November. Sorry, Democrats.

Rep. Tom Perriello has an ad on Charlottesville radio - featuring all his votes that the Tea Party folk could swallow.
Goes well with this David Brooks' column.Many of my liberal friends are convinced that the Republican Party has a death wish. It is sprinting to the right-most fever swamps of American life. It will end up alienating the moderate voters it needs to win elections. There’s only one problem with this theory. There is no evidence to support it. The Republican Party may be moving sharply right, but there is no data to suggest that this has hurt its electoral prospects, at least this year.
Perriello touts his differences with Obama and Pelosi in his ad - in Charlottesville.
If a party has a death wish, sounds more like Democrats than Republicans in 2010.

Reports came out Thursday about Rep. Rick Boucher buying a car with campaign funds.
I followed the link, and the care was bought in the same town of Lebanon. It's off the beaten path from Bristol, the biggest media market entirely in his district.
It's about 30 miles or more from Abingdon, where he's from. There are car dealers in Bristol and Abingdon. Why not buy there instead of a small town off the interstate?

Dan Riehl highlights more bad news for Democrats - seniors don't like Obamacare. There is no way to reduce cost and increase health care services. Something is going to have to go, whether it's a drug like Avastin, or something else. And the more decisions of this type made by the FDA, the angrier seniors are going to be in November and the Novembers to follow. If this hasn't reached critical mass already, I suspect it will. Good luck with this Democrats. They are going to get pounded over the head for so many of Obama's policies, they most likely don't even know what is coming.

Ten more NASCAR races to go, which means 12 drivers enter the Chase for the Cup starting Sunday.NASCAR designed the chase to heighten excitement down the stretch. But how much excitement has there been with Jimmy Johnson winning the last four cups?Johnson is second to Denny Hamlin going into this year's cup, which starts at New Hampshire on ESPN.If you want real late night Saturday racing, the IRL is in Tokyo. The green flag drops at 11 p.m. on Versus.The Manning Bowl highlights the second weekend of the NFL season - Eli and the Giants visit Peyton and the Colts Sunday night on NBC. Monday night, the Saints head to San Francisco as the 49ers seek to bounce back from a lousy opener.After no local teams played last Sunday afternoon, CBS gets both this week. The Ravens visit Cincinnati in the early game, then the Redskins look for a second straight win over a Texas team - meeting the Texans at 4:15 p.m.FOX will show the Bears going to Dallas in the Fishersville area in the early slot.The Orioles get national coverage on TBS Sunday afternoon, hosting the Yankees. MASN also has the series all weekend, while the Nationals face the Phillies on MASN2.The Tigers and White Sox play Sunday night on ESPN, and join the Braves-Mets and Padres-Cardinals as the offerings for the FOX Saturday package.With tennis done, CBS enters the college football realm as Florida visits Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. The Vols' big loss to Oregon and Florida's opening game struggles may dim a little luster from the contest.ABC has a pair of big games on Saturday night - Texas against Texas Tech and Notre Dame-Michigan State. In the late afternoon, games include Alabama at Duke, Nebraska-Washington and Arizona State's visit to Wisconsin. In both time slots, ESPN2 has one of the offerings not on ABC in your area.ESPN opens the weekend Friday with Kansas-Southern Mississippi at 8 p.m. On ESPN2, California takes on Nevada at 10 p.m.Saturday starts on ESPN with Arkansas meeting Georgia at noon, then USC visits Minnesota. Will the Trojans be tougher than South Dakota? In primetime, it's Clemson taking on Auburn. On ESPN2, Penn State hosts Kent State at noon and Wake Forest heads west to play Stanford at 11 p.m.The ACC game of the week features Georgia Tech at North Carolina. Wonder if there will be over 100 points scored in the ACC game like last Saturday?MASN shows Connecticut at Temple Saturday at noon, as the former Big East team tries to impress a rising star.Comcast goes with four games Saturday from all across the country, after starting at noon with Iowa State against Kansas State from Kansas City. Air Force visits Oklahoma at 3:30 p.m., followed by William & Mary-Old Dominion before heading west for Houston against UCLA at 10:30 p.m.Versus has Baylor against TCU at 4 p.m.

Carol at No Sheeples Here combines the Democrats' problem with New York's problem - bed bugs - in a cool graphic.
And I really like her cartoon at the top of the page. Visit before she finds another cool one to post.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Smitty highlights all those who linked the Other McCain as the Castle fell.
And I get the technical shoutout - how come of all the blogger blogs, only my links to the Other McCain fall into his roundup retinue. Just lucky, I guess.

Karl in the Hot Air Green Room sees bad spin coming out of the White House.The temptation to try to energize the base — or to depress turnout of swing voters with a toxic political atmosphere — is likely irresistible. Yet the White House’s best tactic might have been to shut up.
Wish they would listen to this Karl.

Last November, northern New York was the big political battle. The Watertown Daily Times has results of Tuesday's primary with Doug Hoffman going for the Republican nod.
The political circus may have moved on, but the voters will speak even if fewer people are listening.

The Other McCain will be there Tuesday night as Delaware decides its Republican nominee for Senate.
Will the "Tea Party" be sweet again? We'll find out in a few hours.
Then it's on to beating up on Democrats in the November election.

DaTech Guy got to visit Washington for BlogCon over the weekend.
I like his comment on the trip.My trips to Washington have convinced me that we would have better government if the congress and the taxi drivers of the country switched places for a week.

Monday, September 13, 2010

From Kentucky to Nevada, Alaska and now Delaware, we've had "Tea Party" "extreme" candidates take on the establishment GOP.The establishment says their candidates are more likely to win in November. But the "extreme" candidates are winning primaries and holding their own.Maybe it's what the people want in 2010. Establishment candidates are more likely to go along with the lousy way Washington works.What tarnished the Republican brand in 2006? Being too much like Democrats. Spending too much. Not remembering their promises to shrink government."Extreme" candidates probably won't care what the establishment thinks when they get to Washington. So what if the establishment doesn't like them. They don't like the establishment.I think the numbers are against the establishment. There will be less money, not more, coming into Washington. You won't be able promise things to get elected.It's a different election season. It's time for different types of candidates.And in 2011, we'll have a different kind of establishment.

I'm back in the working world after a nearly six-year span as a stay-at-home dad.
When I left in November 2004, Lonestar's song Mr. Mom was number one. As I left work today, the country music station played Mr. Mom.
Maybe it was for me.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Is President Obama just a fad? Jennifer Rubin has the bad news for him.
I've got two boys, so I've seen plenty of kid fads over the past few years. Now it's "Silly Bands," but in the past there's been "Mighty Beans," Yu-gi-oh, Pokemon and Bakugan. And don't forget Beanie Babies and Webkinz.
A thing that all kids have to have, and shortly becomes clutter around the house. Stuff you might buy on Ebay when it's hot, and now can't even give away.
And we have two more years to wait for the next big thing.
h/t Instapundit

Checking Facebook, I found a comment from one of my high school classmates.
He said his wife asked him to "run the vacuum."
He plugged it in and turned it on. And went to get some coffee - he was running the vacuum, after all.
Remember that line. It works.
Once.

Sure, the NFL begins anew on Sunday.
But this Sunday also marks the beginning of the year for many churches. My church decided to add a third worship service, and began a series on "One Month to Live."
The pastor asked to "Imagine your life without fear." And highlighted the verse from Psalms 27:1 - The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear."
A good message to start the year.

Chicago Boyz has an interesting take on why Sarah Palin attracts such vitriol.The best explanation for the left’s bizarre Palin obsession is status-anxiety. Status-anxiety occurs when a person believes that their position in a real or imagined social hierarchy is threatened. Leftists react emotionally to Palin because of the threat she poses to their own individual sense of status. All their other arguments are just put forth to rationalize that emotional reaction. In short, it is not the ideas she puts forth, its that someone like her is significant at all.
h/t Instapundit

What happened to Obama's Army of 2008?Instapundit has a great answer.
The story tells the tale.Not even sorcery may be able to rekindle the excitement many first-time voters showed back then. "The popularity of the President with these voters is not a transferable asset," says Jamal Simmons, a Democratic strategist. "I don't think it's realistic that they would ever be able to replicate the unbridled enthusiasm. It's like a first kiss: you can never experience it twice."

For TV viewers, it's a weird opening weekend of the NFL season for the Washington area.
The Redskins play Sunday night against the Cowboys, and the Ravens are at the Jets in Monday's early game.
With no local teams playing Sunday afternoon, we'll get to see their friends - Cincinnati against New England on CBS, and the Giants-Panthers and Packers-Eagles on FOX.
Enjoy.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

George Will tells the story of South Carolina candidates using their ideas to win, not their identities.The libretto of this operatic election season, understandably promoted by Democrats and unsurprisingly sung by many in the media, is that Republicans have sown the seeds of November disappointments by nominating candidates other than those the party's supposedly wiser establishment prefers. This theory is inconvenienced by South Carolina's Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.

In all the fuss about burning the Koran, does anyone remember another battle of religions involving fire?
In 1Kings, Elijah and the prophets of Baal have a little challenge - two altars for sacrifice and who can pray for fire? The prophets of Baal do their dance all day long without success.
Elijah drenches the wood. Water overflows the pit. Then fire comes down from heaven to consume the sacrifice.
No need to burn a Koran. Just put it outside and see what happens.

One of the hotly-contested (for the first time in a long time) congressional districts is the 3rd district of West Virginia. Nick Joe Rahall has been in Congress since I was a freshman in high school.
He debated opponent Spike Maynard Tuesday. But there wasn't much debate about coal.“I’ve waged many a battles for coal, and I will continue to wage many a battles for coal,” Rahall said. “I’m not about to stop now. It’s a fight. Oh it’s a fight. You can count on me to continue fighting the good fight.”
Yes, that was from a Democrat.
And Maynard knew his talking points. “I got sick of Nancy Pelosi,” Maynard said. “Now Pelosi and Obama have declared war on coal. I think we should fire Nancy Pelosi instead. My opponent, Mr. Rahall, is on the Pelosi, Obama team. He votes with them 95.5 percent of the time.”

Pundette finds an interesting marriage advice question in the paper.
And finds a columnist with a good answer.By marrying, you deemed each other your equals -- emotional equals, equals in status, equal partners in each other's happiness. That includes dividing chores more or less equally based on your total responsibilities, including jobs, kids, ailing relatives, etc.

Next Appalachian League season, baseball on the Virginia/West Virginia border will have a North of the Border flair.
The Toronto Blue Jays have affiliated with Bluefield, keeping baseball there after 53 years with the Baltimore Orioles. Wonder if I'll get used to Bluefield Blue Jays stuff?

I took the boys to visit the in-laws in West Virginia for the weekend. Stopping at the welcome center, I picked up a West Virginia map.
The 2010-11 edition has Governor Joe Manchin on the back cover. If he wins the Senatorial election, then West Virginia will have to pay for new maps next year after getting a new governor. Vote Raese and save West Virginia money.

Can the GOP take over the House? How about the Senate?
Even if they do, will they be able to get anything they want past President Obama? Is just sealing off the current damage enough.
From Hot Air's Green Room, a good word picture:The highest priority for Americans is the repeal of ObamaCare, whose damage to our dignity, economy, and health care system is absolutely intolerable. Outright repeal must wait until Obama has been replaced in 2012, but a Republican Congress can neutralize the worst provisions of the bill, sealing its toxic waste into lead-lined containers until we can shoot it off into space and be rid of it.

NRO's Corner offers a double dose of bad news for Democrats:
Links to Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball ProjectionsPat Caddell's thoughts on the Democrats' coming doom.“President Obama’s undoing may be his disingenuousness,” Caddell says. After campaigning for post-partisanship, Obama, he observes, has lurched without pause to the left. “You can’t get this far from what you promised,” Caddell says, “especially when people invest in hope — you must understand that obligation. The killer in American politics is disappointment. When you are elected on expectations, and you fail to meet them, your decline steepens.”

While awaiting the latest bad news about employment, I have some good news for President Obama - I got hired to a job and start Sept. 13.
After six years as a stay-at-home dad, I'm returning to the workforce. Not much thanks to the president - I'm returning where I worked for eight-plus years before - and that got me the interview and job. But he'll take whatever he can get.
My job search this summer made me realize who's working the hardest in this economy - people in Human Resources departments. One of my friends applied for 150 jobs this summer before getting one. When there's an opening, there's 50 or more people trying to get it.
All of those eager, desperate people call the HR area for an update of their status. What's the poor, hard-working person in HR to do? There's barely enough time in the workday. What do you tell this jobseekers when there's very little out there?

Your chances are slim and none, and Slim just left town.

You're better off buying lottery tickets

Call us back after you've been hit by lightning.

It's important for Democrats to realize that the hardest-working people in the employment field are in Human Resources. Be nice to the HR people. Don't badger them too much.
Democrats will see how hard HR people work this winter - when their side loses the election and they are out of jobs all across the country.

Saturday is International Bacon Day. Don't forget. I have good memories of last year's celebration.The official website hasn't been updated since just after last year's festivities. Guess they've been busy cooking bacon.

The Washington Post tells of union canvassers knocking on doors - the supposed Democratic advantage - and finding plenty of voters watching Fox News Channel.
They find plenty of angry voters. And they'll be angry after Election Day when their efforts fail to redirect that anger away from Democratic candidates.

ChicagoBoyz has an interesting take on Glenn Beck.Someone who asks what the rally has to do with the 2010 election is missing the point.Beck is building solidarity and cultural confidence in America, its Constitution, its military heritage, its freedom. This is a vision that is despised by the people who have long held the commanding heights of the culture. But is obviously alive and kicking. Beck is creating positive themes of unity and patriotism and freedom and independence which are above mere political or policy choices, but not irrelevant to them. Political and policy choices rest on a foundation of philosophy, culture, self-image, ideals, religion. Change the foundation, and the rest will flow from that. Defeat the enemy on that plane, and any merely tactical defeat will always be reversible.
In other words, the nerds are booting the popular kids from their place atop the social order. And they will not be stopped.
h/t Instapundit

Tuesday, President Obama declared the end of combat operations in Iraq.
Combat operations still continue. Across the country going into the November elections.
Critics said Obama ignored the surge as a reason for victory in Iraq. He won't be able to ignore the surge of Republicans into Washington by January.